Fukushima shaken by 6.0 magnitude quake

An aerial view shows the No.3 reactor building at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)'s tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, in this photo taken by Kyodo July 18, 2013. (Reuters/Kyodo) / Reuters

A strong undersea earthquake has hit the same northeastern region of Japan that was devastated by a deadly 2011 tsunami. No damage or injuries have been reported in the affected area, including the Fukushima prefecture.

The 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Miyagi
prefecture on Sunday. The epicenter was 50 kilometers below the
seabed. No tsunami warning was issued by the Japan
Meteorological Agency.

Some roads and railways were, however, temporarily closed for
safety checks, according to NHK TV broadcaster, cited by AP.

The quake struck at approximately the same location where a 9.0
magnitude earthquake hit in March 2011, triggering a
massive tsunami which led to multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima
nuclear plant. Over 15,000 people died as a result of the
natural disaster and more than 3,200 went missing.

The Fukushima reactors were not impacted by the tremors on
Sunday, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which runs
the facility. Another nuclear power plant in the
earthquake-hit area, the Onagawa facility in Miyagi prefecture,
has also reported no damages.

Following the meltdowns of two and a half years ago, crews at the
Fukushima nuclear plant have been struggling hard to clear up the
damage done by the natural disaster. TEPCO has recently acknowledged that one of the problems it cannot
solve is that crippled reactors continue to leak highly
contaminated radioactive waters into the Pacific Ocean. The
process of decommissioning the reactors is likely to take several
decades, and according to recent estimates, it is going to cost
Japan up to $58 billion.